Monday, February 22, 2016

5 ways sugar may affect your mental performance

Eating right can help our bodies function their best, but determining exactly where to focus your energy in regards to eating right can feel overwhelming. Fortunately, by starting with one simple ingredient—sugar—you can dramatically change the way you feel. Try cutting down on sugar, and see what happens.

When you eat less sugar, you will become more aware of these five ways eating sugar affects your mental performance.
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1. Focus: When we eat sugar, it forms free radicals in the membrane of our brains. These free radicals make it more difficult for our nerve cells to communicate, which can leave us feeling clouded. Skip the sugar for greater mental clarity.

Sugar spikes your dopamine. This can feel good at the moment, but it leads to a crash later. Avoid this dip in your mood by opting for regular meals of protein and fiber, which will help keep your insulin level consistent.

3. Memory: Sugar has been linked to memory impairment in the short term and to long-term, more serious memory issues like Alzheimer's.

4. Mental Balance: If you find yourself feeling irritable, anxious, or aggressive, take a look at how much sugar you have been eating. Sugar takes your body's vitamin B and blocks your chromium receptors, leaving you feeling mentally imbalanced.

5. Stress: Instead of choosing sugar, which many of us have been trained to reach for when feeling stressed, opt for fruits, vegetables, and nuts to release serotonin into your body with throwing off your blood sugar levels.‎